United States v. Kitchen

17 C.C.P.A. 265, 1929 CCPA LEXIS 60
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedNovember 4, 1929
DocketNo. 3195
StatusPublished

This text of 17 C.C.P.A. 265 (United States v. Kitchen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Customs and Patent Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Kitchen, 17 C.C.P.A. 265, 1929 CCPA LEXIS 60 (ccpa 1929).

Opinion

Hatfield, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

This is an appeal by the Government from a judgment of'the United States Customs Court.

Merchandise, consisting of 36 bales of mixed wool, was assessed for duty by the collector as wool in the grease at 31 cents per pound of clean content under paragraph 1102 of the Tariff Act of 1922, which reads as follows:

Par. 1102. Wools, not specially provided for, and hair of the Angora goat, Cashmere goat, alpaca, and other like animals, imported in the grease or washed, 31 cents per pound of clean content; imported in the scoured state, 31 cents per pound; imported on the skin, 30 cents per pound of clean content.

The importer protested this assessment claiming that the wool was one of the kinds provided for in paragraph 1101 of the Tariff Act of 1922, and that it was dutiable thereunder at either 12 cents or 18 cents per pound. The paragraph reads as follows:

Par. 1101. Wools, not improved by the admixture of merino or English blood, such as Donskoi, native Smyrna, native South American, Cordova, Valparaiso, and other wools of like character or description, and hair of the camel, in the grease, 12 cents per pound; washed, 18 cents per pound; scoured, 24 cents per pound. The duty on such wools imported on the skin shall be 11 cents per pound: Provided, That such wools may be imported under bond in an amount to be fixed by the Secretary of the Treasury and under such regulations as he shall prescribe; and if within-three years from the date of importation or withdrawal from bonded warehouse satisfactory proof is furnished that the wools have been used in the manufacture of rugs, carpets, or any other floor coverings, the duties shall be remitted or refunded: Provided further, That if any such wools imported under bond as above described are used in the manufacture of articles other than rugs, carpets, or any other floor coverings, there shall be levied, collected, and paid on any wools so used in violation of the bond, in addition to the regular duties provided by this paragraph, 20 cents per pound, which shall not be remitted or refunded on exportation of the articles or for any other reason. Wools in the grease shall be considered such as shall have been shorn from the sheep without any cleansing; that is, in their natural condition. Washed wools shall be considered such as have been washed with water only on the sheep’s back, or on the skin.

[267]*267On the trial below considerable evidence was submitted by the parties. It appears therefrom that a majority of the bales contained mixed wools. The witnesses for the importer, while not in agreement as to the proportions, testified, collectively, that the bales contained from 3 to 10 per centum of pure English wool and from 90 to 97 per centum of Scotch black-faced wool known, because it is pulled wool, as “Scotch haslock”; that the wool is used for the making of carpet yarns; and that it would be commercially impracticable to segregate the pure English wool from the “Scotch haslock.”

A. H. Harjes, jr., testifying for the importer, said that the mixture of the pure English wool with the “Scotch haslock” improved the wool, but did not make it any better for carpet purposes. With reference to the question of how the pure wool happened to be mixed with the “Scotch haslock,” he said:

The Witness. Of course, your honor, as I may explain, this is the pulled wool that comes from the animal in Scotland. It may be it had a fine fleece which was put*n.
Justice Beown. That happens in the usual course of events?
The Witness. Yes; it would.

The witness, John W. Bulwer, testifying for the importer, said that the mixture of the pure English wool with the “Scotch haslock” would not “affect the buying or selling of it.”

Another of the importer’s witnesses, C. E. Webb, testified that importations of “Scotch haslock” wool frequently contained small percentages of pure English wool; that such wools were used for making carpet yarn; and that the presence of a small percentage of pure English wool did not improve the wool for carpet purposes.

All of these witnesses agreed that the mixing of the pure wool, either intentionally or unintentionally, with the “Scotch haslock” did not make the mixed wool any better than “Donskoi, native Smyrna, native South American, Cordova, or Valparaiso * * * wools” eo nomine provided for in paragraph 1101, and .that the involved mixed wool is inferior in grade and quality to that before this court in the case of United States v. Bigelow-Hartford Carpet Co., 15 Ct. Cust. Appls. 74, T. D. 42156.

Counsel for the importer also inquired of these witnesses whether the involved wool “was improved by the admixture of merino or English blood.” The testimony in this regard is very confusing, but we think that the witnesses intended to say that the imported wool was not “improved by the admixture of merino or English blood,” within the meaning of that language as used in paragraph 1101, supra.

The Government called but one witness, H. V. Staley, who testified that he was the examiner of merchandise at the port of Philadelphia; that he had examined approximately 20 of the 36 bales in the importa[268]*268tion; that a majority of the 20 bales examined by him contained about 15 per centum of pure English wool and 85 per centum of “Scotch haslock” wool; and that 9 of the bales were not examined by him because they had been removed from the warehouse by the importer. He did not explain why he failed to examine the other 5 or 6 bales, nor did he offer any explanation as to why he advisorily classified all as containing mixed wool when, as a matter of fact, he knew that only a majority of those examined contained wool of that character.

Upon this record the court below sustained the protest and, in so doing, in an opinion by McClelland, Justice, said':

There is a clear preponderance of evidence which establishes’that there is a small percentage of fine wool found in the sample (Exhibit 1) indicating a proportionate infusion of English blood; but, aside from the official examiner who passed the wool, the witnesses, four in number, were unitedly of the opinion that the small percentages of improved wool found by them neither increased the value of the wool as a whole, changed its character, nor enlarged its use beyond that of making carpets. ®

It is contended by the Government that, as the importation consists of a mixture of pure English wool, provided for in paragraph 1102, and “Scotch haslock,” provided for in paragraph 1101, the entire importation is dutiable at the rate applicable to the pure English wool. It is claimed that this is so by virtue of the provisions of paragraph 1103 of the Tariff Act of 1922, which reads as follows:

Pah,. 1103. If any bale or package containing wools, hairs, wool wastes, or wool waste material, subject to different rates of duty, be entered at any rate or rates lower than applicable, the highest rate applicable to any part shall apply to the entire contents of such bale or package.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

McKesson v. United States
1 Ct. Cust. 213 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1911)
United States v. Morris European & American Express Co.
3 Ct. Cust. 146 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1912)
United States v. Fuld
4 Ct. Cust. 234 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1913)
United States v. Tappenbeck
7 Ct. Cust. 17 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1916)
United States v. Glück & Sons
8 Ct. Cust. 11 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1917)
Downing Co. v. United States
12 Ct. Cust. 391 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1924)
United States v. Bigelow-Hartford Carpet Co.
15 Ct. Cust. 74 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1927)
United States v. Thomas
15 Ct. Cust. 295 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1927)
United States v. Brown, Durrell & Co.
127 F. 793 (First Circuit, 1903)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
17 C.C.P.A. 265, 1929 CCPA LEXIS 60, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-kitchen-ccpa-1929.